"William Forstchen - Wing Commander 3 - Fleet Action" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forstchen William R)

"We do outnumber the human confederation in total number of
carriers, fighters of all classes, and heavy cruisers. However, as you can see
by the charts projected, we will see no new replacement of carriers of
standard design for the next three of eighty days. In the meantime it is
projected by my intelligence staff that the humans will have four of their
new fleet carriers coming into operations, thus enabling them to form an
entire new task force and reach a rough parity with our own carrier forces
for the first time in this war."

"This is due to the loss of the construction bays and nearly completed
ships in the raids on our construction sites over the last year. First they hit
our primary bases on our moon during the Vukar Tag debacle," and he
could not resist sparing a quick look at Thrakhath, "and then the two
follow-up raids which destroyed three other construction yards."

He paused for a moment, looking around the room, the other clan
leaders stirring uneasily. The successful human raids deep within the
Empire had been a source of extreme embarrassment for Thrakhath and
for the clan leaders. Jukaga smiled inwardly. If anything, the exile after
Vukar had enabled him to wash his own talons of any responsibility. In a
dispassionate sort of way, he found he could even admire the human who
had conceived of the strategy of using light carriers for the strikes. Spy
reports, both from their plant high inside the ruling circle of the
Administration, and from prisoner interrogation, indicated that it was
Admiral Tolwyn who instituted the plan.

"Our shortages," the Baron continued, "are made worse by the fact that
within the next eighty days nearly one quarter of our carriers are due for
overhauls, resupply, and refitting, with one needing an entire reactor
replacement."

"Can't such things wait?" Buktag'ka asked.

"It has already been delayed too long," Thrakhath announced coldly.
"The Ha'Tukag's reactor is leaking so dangerously that engine room crews
have to be suited up and after three duty shifts retired. We might see a
total reactor failure if we push her any further. As for the other ships, a
variety of minor things threaten to soon become major problems if not
addressed. Remember the standard rule is that for every day of flight a
carrier needs one day of docking for a variety of reasons. We are
stretching that out to almost two to one, pushing our equipment too
hard."

He fell silent and Jukaga made a show of nodding his thanks.

"I know the argument is that we cannot afford to move carriers out of
action at this time," Jukaga said, "but I believe Prince Thrakhath will tell
you we cannot afford not to. Unfortunately the humans, at least for the
moment, have found a weak point and are exploiting it, using their new
escort carriers to raid deep into our Empire, seeking not to engage in ship